For four decades, Chuck's boundless energy, unabashed enthusiasm, and pure joy have characterized his love affair with music and the resulting admiration of his audience. He joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, assu... more &raquoming the trumpet chair that had b&laquo less

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Movie Reviews

Finally a Chuck Mangione Concert DVD!

leatherlips | 05/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a long time Chuck Mangione fan I was elated to learn of this DVD concert release. As Mangione fans know, there isn't very much video/DVD available of Chuck. The only other DVD's are "The Feelings Back" (disappointing due to the fact that it isn't live, but a pantomime of his cd), a one song track of "Echano" from the "1975 Monterey Jazz Festival" and a couple of out of print videos such as "Sass And Brass" and his video "Diana D" on a compilation called "Prime Cuts Jazz And Beyond".This video, although I'm giving it 5 stars, is rather disappointing for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Chuck Mangione and his music! But this DVD lacks that "Mangione Magic". It is a concert from 1989 at the Cannes Music Festival. Some of you may know that this was already released on video in Europe as "Live At Midem".First, let me talk about the DVD itself. It lasts about an hour. You can watch the edited concert or go to the individual tracks. Two of the track names are misspelled (Hot Consuela instead of Hot Consuelo and Feel So Good instead of Feels So Good). There is a biography and discography for each band member that you can read. I noticed that there is some distortion when Chuck plays from time to time. I don't know if this was a technical issue from the original recording or from the transfer to DVD. It is rather unfortunate that the sound isn't flawless with today's technology. (I don't remember there being any distortion on the "Live At Midem" video).Now the concert itself. The personnel are the same as on his cd "Live At The Village Gate" minus Chris. Even though Chuck performs some of his most popular songs, something is missing. It could be that he does not have either Gerry Niewood or Chris Vadala with him. It could be that he doesn't have his beard (shaved). It seems to me that this group doesn't really "gel" like some of his earlier groups. They are good musicians but somehow they don't convince me that they really "love" the music. Rob Mathes on vocals and keyboards gets into the music, albeit a little "too much", (he's almost comical at times with his over enthusiasm).Over all, I'm glad this DVD was released. But I long for the day that some of the earlier great Mangione concerts will be released on DVD. "Friends And Love", "Together" and "Live At Wolftrap" are three incredible concerts that are sitting on the shelves in the PBS archives collecting dust."

A Great Chuck Mangione Preformance!!!!!

R. Mathes | 07/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a CHuck Mangione fan for about seven or eight years now, I'm 15 now. You probally bought this dvd for the same reasons I did. Being A Mangione fan for all these years now, I have not seen any Mangione preformances on video ever before, and have dreamed of the day when I would get one, and here this is. And for those reasons I love this dvd. This dvd has got some good tracks on it. But about two and a half songs are ruined with the vocals by Rob Mathes and Gordon Johnson. Sorry guys, I just dont like singing. There is no reed player here, I guess Chris was on vocation, but there isn't really a need for one. Mark Manneta is on guitars. Overall, he's an average guitar player, but for instance, his solo on Hide And Seek, it's horrendous. It is the darkest most unmelodic guitar solo I ever heard and he then brings the whole band down and the song gets drowned out and it sounds like a train reck! Besides from that, his rhythm playing is exceptable and his acoustic solos are ok. Rob Mathes plays mainly electric piano, but for the last two tracks on this dvd, he goes on guitar. He sings on Chase The Clouds, therefore ruining it and now, making me switch through it every time I come to it. He also sings on feels So Good, but it's just in the intro, so the whole song's not ruined. His over enthusiasm is a problem! He looks like an idiot on stereoids, but I guess he's a nice guy. (LOL) Joe Bonadio on drums and Billy Martin on Percussion. Billy gives a percussion solo on Hot Consuelo. He starts off good, but most of the time Martin is just showcasing all his exoctic percussion toys, instead of showing off on timbales and bongos and giving a "worth wild" solo. Gordon Johnson on bass gives a slighty bad solo on Hide and Seek. By the end, you kinda get lost. Overall, I didnt like his solo that much, and I really didnt like his singing on Shes Gone. I was anxious to hear She's Gone, because I never heard it before, but it turnes out to be a slow boring vocal. And lastly there's Chuck. His flugelhorn does get distorted from time to time, but he's an excellent pianist. He does hit some wrong notes here and there, maybee he's just getting old. And Feels So Good ain't exactly the easiest song to play, so, I wouldn't step on him that much for that. Here's the run down. Land Of Makebelieve is great! Perhaps the best track on the dvd, not one person messes up, and there's no clinkers. Chase The Clouds Away, is ruined by Rob MAthes' sappy vocals, Hide And Seek is ok, but there are some pretty dark moments, like MArk Mannetta and Gordon Johnson's solo, but it's not slow or boring. Shes Gone is boring, due to Gordon Johnson's bad vocals. Hot Consuelo, Feels So Good, and Once Opon a Love Theme are also great!!! If you just forget about the bad vocal songs, this ain't a bad package. I'd buy it just because a Mangione concert on video is a real rarity."

DID THE BEST WE COULD

R. Mathes | Cos Cob, CT, U.S.A. | 07/31/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Great comments above. I am the Rob Mathes singing who is so remarkably annoying to the reviewers. That was a good band but that performance was not our best. In fact we did not even know it was being filmed. I was hired as the kind of all purpose guy and trust me, the facial expressions were entirely by accident. One doesn't look in the mirror when one is singing. It is great to see Chuck and Chris play though and one of the rare documents of that time in Chuck's life. He certainly had a way with the melody and had his own sound. I, like the reviewers, find my performance of Chase The Clouds maddening. It is much better with a woman's voice but alas, Chuck liked my sound and I did the best I could. It is great to see Billy and Billy was always wonderful as was Gordon Johnson. When Joe Bonadio left, Billy played drums and at that time was just starting what would become Medeski, Martin and Wood. We didn't have the frission of excitement that the Feels So Good band had but this is not a worthless document either. We had flown all night and were tired but it is still worth checking out if you love Chuck. Skip through Chase but enjoy some of the rest. It is cool."